What is a contract lawyer? A contract lawyer is an attorney who specializes in contract law and devotes most of his practice to drafting and reviewing legal contracts. Some people will refer to these attorneys as "public attorneys" because they are often behind a desk and not in a courtroom. Legal contracts are the backbone of any business as they govern the company's relationships with customers, suppliers, employees and shareholders. This is why it is important to have a quality contract lawyer on your team. What does a contract lawyer do? Contract attorneys spend most of their time drafting and reviewing legal contracts. These contracts can be for both businesses and individuals. Examples of commercial legal agreements include sales agreements, vendor agreements, nondisclosure agreements, partnership agreements, employment agreements, and joint venture agreements. Examples of personal contracts include Power of Attorney, Residential Lease Agreement and Home Purchase Agreement For contract drafting, a contract attorney will work with a client to prepare, create, or update a contract so that it is drafted in a way that fits the purpose of the transaction. For example, if a client needs to draft a sales contract for a new product line, contract lawyers can take any existing contract used by the company for sales and update these templates to cover all commercial and legal aspects for the new product line. For contract review, contract lawyers will work with a client to analyze and advise on the meaning of an existing legal contract that the client must sign for a particular transaction. Because legal contracts can be compiled with legalese, you may want to hire a contract attorney to explain the contractual obligations and suggest modifications that might make the terms more favorable to you. Contract attorneys may also be called upon to assist with breach of contract matters. If one party to the contract fails to fulfill their obligations, contract lawyers will review the existing contract governing the relationship and analyze the risk disclosure and liability of the defaulting party. A contract lawyer will be able to advise his client on what to do next: settlement, compensation in court, etc. Why do you need to hire a contract lawyer? Working with a contract lawyer will ensure that you are not creating unnecessary risks for yourself or your business. For contract drafting projects, they will ensure that the wording, format and clauses are legally binding, admissible in court and free from any errors that the other party to the transaction may find. In other words, they will ensure that your contracts are "hardened". For contract review projects, they will help you interpret challenging and technical legalese so that you can make the best decision about whether to sign off on a contract as it is written or propose revised terms that may be more favorable to you. How much do contract lawyers cost? Many contract lawyers charge by the hour to draft and review plans. However, customers are beginning to ask for flat rate offers to predict their greater value. When contract lawyers bill by the hour, the client often does not know how much money to allocate to the project. Flat-rate proposals solve this problem. It is easy to predict the effort required in contract drafting projects, so contract lawyers are willing to offer flat-rate proposals. Contract attorneys working for large law firms can charge between $250 and $500 per hour, depending on the complexity of the contract. There are even contract lawyers at large firms that can charge upwards of $500 an hour. There are online marketplaces that connect clients with attorneys who charge significantly lower fees, given that most have independent practices or are not affiliated with a law firm. Where do contract lawyers work? Contract attorneys work for law firms, in their own practice (private practitioners), and as in-house counsel to large corporations. You'll find contract attorneys in all 50 states and internationally. Contract attorneys who are not affiliated with large law firms generally have lower rates because their firms do not have large overhead to cover. Therefore, they may lose
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